Lionel Messi’s Argentina overwhelmed Canada 2-0 in the Copa America 2024 semifinal clash this Wednesday at the MetLife Stadium. And with that, Argentina moves to its second back-to-back final in which it will play the winner of Uruguay vs. Colombia, held on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This is the 30th time that a national Argentinian team has advanced to the final.
Lionel Messi has now reached the final of a major tournament with his team on the third effort. The Albiceleste, led by Messi, previously won the 2021 Copa America with a 1-0 triumph over Brazil in the final match and triumphed in the 2022 Qatar World Cup by beating France 4-2 in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in extra time.
Argentina dominated most of the match against Canada, creating from the onset several goal-scoring opportunities and maintaining ball possession in their opponent’s half. Julian Alvarez, a Manchester City striker, put his team up 1-0 by knocking the ball past two defenders after a long pass from Rodrigo De Paul.
Messi was on target again in the 51st minute as he led his country 2-0, assisted by Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez. This took Messi to 109 goals worldwide, one goal ahead of Iran’s Ali Daei on 108—the all-time, second-highest top scorer. This was his 14th goal in Copa America history.
Top International goal-scorers of all time:
1) Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): 130 goals
109 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
108 – Ali Daei (Iran)
94- Sunil Chhetri (India)
89 – Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia)
85 – Ali Mabkhout (UAE); Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
84 – Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
83 – Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
79 – Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia); Neymar (Brazil)
78 – Hussein Saeed (Iraq.